Leadership Development

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any nonprofit organization, and never more so than when innovation and change is necessary.

And GEO members agree. More than three-quarters of GEO member organizations surveyed assess grantee leadership as part of their due diligence process, and nearly two-thirds directly support the leadership development of grantees, either through funding or directly through their grantmaking organizations.

Through its many activities, GEO encourages new models for investing in leadership, supports leader transitions and explores collaborative leadership models.

Recommended Resources

Introducing GEO case studies: 

The best learning occurs when peers teach peers, especially in a field as unique as philanthropy.

GEO Case Studies are designed to help you learn from other grantmakers; by understanding their best practices and also recognizing where they may have gone wrong. See our latest case study on The Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Neighborhood Builders® Award.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Neighborhood Builders® Award provides nonprofits with a unique combination of support, each selected organization sends one executive director and one emerging leader to attend a year-long leadership and management training program, and the organization receives a $200,000 general operating grant over two years. Grantees are selected through local committees in communities served by the bank, a total of 92 awardees each year with more than 400 organizations participating in the program to date. Learn more and download GEO’s full in-depth case study on the program here.

+ download PDF

The Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Promoting Outstanding Nonprofit Organizations (PONO) program
The PONO program brings mid-career nonprofit executives together for a year-long program of learning. The program offers participants the opportunity to design and implement capacity-building projects that focus on a critical issue or entrepreneurial opportunity facing their organizations. + download PDF

	Coaching and Philanthropy, An Action Guide for Grantmakers GEO + download PDF + Executive Summary PDF + Online Toolkit
	GEO Action Guide: Supporting Next Generation Leadership A GEO Action Guide GEO + download PDF + Executive Summary PDF
	Investing in Leadership Vol. 1 A Grantmaker’s Framework for Understanding Leadership Development GEO + download PDF + Executive Summary PDF
	Investing in Leadership Vol. 2 Inspiration and Idea from Philanthropy’s Latest Frontier GEO + download PDF + Executive Summary PDF
	The Departing: Exiting Nonprofit Leaders as a Resource for Social Change Presents a variety of approaches to leveraging departing executive directors to benefit the broader community.  GEO + download PDF

Advisors

The following individuals provide guidance and oversight to GEO's Leadership Development work:

• Paul Hogan
  Vice President, John R. Oishei Foundation
• Stephanie McAuliffe
  Director HR/OE, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Rick Moyers
  Director of Programs, Nonprofit Sector Fund, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
• Annemarie Riemer
  Director, Nonprofit Support Program, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
• Donna Stark
  Director of Leadership Development, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Peter Taylor
  Director of Grantmaking Services, Maine Community Foundation
• Mailee Walker
  Executive Director, Claneil Foundation
• Gayle Williams
  Executive Director, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
• Linda Wood
  Senior Program Officer, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund